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are summed up in this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. And he who strives to keep this word, fulfills all the commandments together. But one cannot, without having separated himself, as has been said before, from attachment to material things, love either God or neighbor genuinely; since it is impossible to be attached to matter and to love God at the same time. And this is what the Lord says: no one can serve God and mammon. For as much as our mind clings to the things of the world, it is enslaved to them, and it despises the commandment of God by transgressing it.

7. And the Brother said: What things do you mean, Father? And the elder answered: Foods, money, possessions, glory, relatives, and so on. And the Brother said: Tell me, Father, did not God create these things and give them to men for their use? and how does he command not to cling to them [alt. touch them]? And the elder answered: It is clear that God created them, and gave them for use to men. And, all things made by God are good, so that by using them well, we might please God; but we, being weak and material in mind [alt. the mind], have preferred material things to the commandment of love; (917) and clinging to them, we fight with men; when we ought to prefer the love of every man to all visible things, and even to our own body; which is the sign of love for God, as the Lord himself shows in the Gospels: He who loves me, he says, will keep my commandments. And what is the commandment which, by keeping it, we may love him? Listen to him, saying: And this is my commandment, that you love one another. Do you see that love for one another establishes love for God, which is the fulfillment of every commandment of God? Therefore he commands not to cling to them; but also for everyone who desires to be his disciple to renounce all his possessions.

8. And the Brother said: Since you said, Father, that one ought to prefer the love of every man to all visible things, and even to our own body, how can I love him who hates and shuns me? And if he also envies me, and assails me with insults, and contrives deceits, and attempts to plot against me, how can I love him? By nature, Father, this seems impossible to me, since the passion of grief naturally forces one to turn away from the one who caused the grief. And the elder answered: In the case of reptiles and wild beasts that are led by nature, it is indeed impossible not to defend oneself in every way possible against what afflicts them; but for those created in the image of God, and led by reason, and deemed worthy of the knowledge of God, and having received the law from him, it is possible not to turn away from those who grieve them, and to love those who hate them. For this reason also the Lord, when he says, Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you, and so forth, does not command impossible things, but clearly possible things; since he would not have punished the one who transgresses. And the Lord himself makes this clear, showing us by his own deeds; and all his disciples, who struggled to the death for the sake of love for their neighbor, and prayed fervently for those who killed them. But because we are lovers of material things and lovers of pleasure, and we prefer these more than the commandment, for this reason we are not able to love those who hate us; but we also often turn away from those who love us for these same reasons, being disposed worse than wild beasts and reptiles; and for this reason, being unable to follow in the footsteps of God, we are not able to know his purpose, so that we may receive power.

9. And the Brother said: Behold, Father, I have left everything, kindred, substance, luxury, and the glory of the world, and I possess nothing in this life except my body; and I am not able to love the brother who hates and shuns me; even if I force myself not to return evil for evil in deed. Tell me then what

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ἀνακεφαλαιοῦνται, ἐν τῷ, Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τόν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου καί ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου· καί τόν πλησίον σου ὡς ἑαυτόν. Καί ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος τοῦτον κρατεῖν τόν λόγον, πάσας ὁμοῦ τάς ἐντολάς κατορθοῖ. Οὐ δύναται δέ τις μή χωρίσας ἑαυτόν, ὡς προείρηται, τῆς τῶν ὑλικῶν προσπαθείας, οὔτε τόν Θεόν, οὔτε τόν πλησίον ἀγαπῆσαι γνησίως· ἐπειδή ὁμοῦ τῇ ὕλῃ προσκεῖσθαι, καί τόν Θεόν ἀγαπῆσαι, ἀμήχανον. Καί τοῦτό ἐστιν ὅ λέγει ὁ Κύριος· οὐδείς δύναται Θεῷ δουλεύειν καί μαμωνᾷ. Ὅσον γάρ ὁ νοῦς ἡμῶν τῶν τοῦ κόσμου ἀντέχεται πραγμάτων, δεδούλωται αὐτοῖς, καί καταφρονεῖ τήν ἐντολήν τοῦ Θεοῦ παραβαίνων.

ζ΄. Καί ὁ Ἀδελφός εἶπε· Ποίων πραγμάτων λέγεις, Πάτερ; Καί ὁ γέρων ἀπεκρίθη· Βρωμάτων, χρημάτων, κτημάτων, δόξης, συγγενῶν, καί τῶν ἑξῆς. Καί ὁ Ἀδελφός εἶπεν· Εἰπέ, Πάτερ, οὐχί ὁ Θεός αὐτά ἔκτισε, καί τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰς χρῆσιν δέδωκε; καί πῶς κελεύει αὐτῶν μή ἀντέχεσθαι [alt. ἅπτεσθαι]; Καί ἀπεκρίθη ὁ γέρων· ∆ῆλον ὅτι ὁ Θεός αὐτά ἔκτισε, καί δέδωκεν εἰς χρῆσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Καί, καλά πάντα τά ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγονότα, ἵνα καλῶς αὐτοῖς χρησάμενοι, τῷ Θεῷ εὐαρεστήσωμεν· ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς ἀσθενεῖς ὄντες, καί ὑλικοί τῇ διανοίᾳ [ἄλλ. τήν διάνοιαν], προετιμήσαμεν τά ὑλικά τῆς ἐντολῆς τῆς ἀγάπης· (917) καί αὐτῶν ἀντεχόμενοι, τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μαχόμεθα· δέον πάντων τῶν ὁρωμένων, καί αὐτοῦ τοῦ σώματος, τήν παντός ἀνθρώπου προτιμῆσαι ἀγάπην· ἥτις ἐστίν γνώρισμα τῆς εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπης, καθώς αὐτός ὁ Κύριος ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις δείκνυσιν· Ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐμέ, φησί, τάς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσει. Καί τίς ἐστιν ἡ ἐντολή ἥν τηρήσαντες, αὐτόν ἀγαπήσωμεν, αὐτοῦ ἄκουσον, λέγοντος· Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἐντολή ἡ ἐμή, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους· Ὁρᾷς ὅτι ἡ ἀλλήλων ἀγάπη, τήν εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπην συνίστησιν, ἥτις ἐστί πλήρωμα πάσης Θεοῦ ἐντολῆς; ∆ιά τοῦτο οὖν κελεύει αὐτῶν μή ἀντέχεσθαι· ἀλλά καί ἀποτάξασθαι πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτῷ, πάντα τόν αὐτῷ μαθητεύειν ἐπιθυμητικῶς ἔχοντα.

η΄. Καί ὁ Ἀδελφός εἶπεν· Ἐπειδή εἶπες, Πάτερ, ὅτι δέον πάντων τῶν ὁρωμένων, καί αὐτοῦ τοῦ σώματος, τήν παντός ἀνθρώπου προτιμῆσαι ἀγάπην, πῶς δύναμαι τόν μισοῦντά με καί ἀποστρεφόμενον ἀγαπῆσαι; Εἰ δέ καί φθονεῖ μοι, καί λοιδορίαις κατατοξεύει, καί δόλους κατασκευάζει, καί ἐπιβουλεύειν ἐπιχειρεῖ, πῶς δύναμαι αὐτόν ἀγαπῆσαι; Φύσει μοι, Πάτερ, φαίνεται τοῦτο ἀδύνατον, τοῦ πάθους τῆς λύπης φυσικῶς τόν λυπήσαντα ἀποστρέφεσθαι ἀναγκάζοντος. Καί ἀπεκρίθη ὁ γέρων· Ἐπί μέν τῶν ἑρπετῶν καί τῶν θηρίων τῶν ὑπό φύσεως ἀγομένων, τῷ ὄντι ἀδύνατον μή πάντως ἀμύνασθαι ὅσον δύναται τό καταπονοῦν· ἐπί δέ τῶν κατ᾿ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ κτισθέντων, καί λόγῳ ἀγομένων· καί γνώσεως Θεοῦ καταξιωθέντων, καί νόμον παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ δεξαμένων, δυνατόν τούς λυποῦντας μή ἀποστρέφεσθαι, καί τούς μισοῦντας ἀγαπᾷν. ∆ιό καί ὁ Κύριος, Ἀγαπᾶτε, λέγων, τούς ἐχθρούς ὑμῶν· καλῶς ποιεῖτε, τοῖς μισοῦσιν ὑμᾶς, καί τά ἑξῆς, οὐχ ὡς ἀδύνατα ἐντέλλεται, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς δυνατά δηλονότι· ἐπεί οὐκ ἄν ἐκόλασε τόν παραβαίνοντα. ∆ηλοῖ δέ αὐτός ὁ Κύριος, αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἔργοις ἡμῖν δείξας· καί οἱ μαθηταί αὐτοῦ πάντες ὑπέρ τῆς εἰς τόν πλησίον ἀγάπης μέχρι θανάτου ἀγωνισάμενοι, καί ὑπέρ τῶν ἀποκτεινάντων θερμῶς προσευξάμενοι. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπειδή ἡμεῖς ἐσμέν φιλόϋλοι καί φιλήδονοι, καί ταῦτα τῆς ἐντολῆς μᾶλλον προτιμῶντες, διά τοῦτο τούς μισοῦντας ἀγαπῆσαι οὐ δυνάμεθα· ἀλλά καί τούς ἀγαπῶντας διά ταῦτα πολλάκις ἀποστρεφόμεθα, θηρίων καί ἑρπετῶν χεῖρον διακείμενοι· καί διά τοῦτο τοῖς ἴχνεσι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀκολουθῆσαι μή δυνάμενοι, οὐδέ τόν σκοπόν αὐτοῦ γνῶναι δυνάμεθα, ἵνα λάβωμεν δύναμιν.

θ΄. Καί ὁ Ἀδελφός εἶπεν· Ἰδού, Πάτερ, κατέλιπον πάντα, συγγένεια, ὕπαρξιν, τρυφήν, καί τήν δόξαν τοῦ κόσμου, καί οὐδέν κέκτημαι ἐν τῷ βίῳ πλήν τού σώματος· καί τόν ἀδελφόν μισοῦντά με καί ἀποστρεφόμενον ἀγαπῆσαι οὐ δύναμαι· εἰ καί βιάζομαι κακόν ἀντί κακοῦ κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν μή ἀνταποδοῦναι. Εἶπε οὖν τί